The location of an outside mirror of a vehicle often involves several competing factors. Aesthetics, driver visibility, noise and vibration management each play a role. The reflective face of the mirror is located relative to the field of view of the driver to provide optimal visibility. This location is commonly above the waistline of the vehicle and near a forward portion of the window surround of the front door of the vehicle.
The position of the reflective face of the side mirror limits the options for location of mirror attachments to the door assembly. One option is to attach the mounting structure of the side mirror assembly to a sail area of the door. The sail area is often triangular when viewed from the side. The triangular shape creates space constraints with respect to the space available for mirror attachments. A formation or depression can be provided in one or more door panels to create a flat condition suitable for receiving clamp load from a threaded joint of the mirror attachment. Flat configurations may have reduced stiffness and are prone to deflection in response to loads applied via the attached mirror. In some configurations, multiple panels converge to accommodate mirror attachment points, locally reducing cross-sectional area and strength of the door.
Alternatively, large clearance holes can be formed in secondary panels to solidly clamp the mirror to a flat portion of one primary panel. Clamping to one panel allows for a desired cross-sectional area, but the large clearance hole required to accommodate the mirror can weaken the door frame near the attachment location. Less than optimal point stiffness may be provided when mirror attachments are secured to only a single panel.
Customer usage may result in a number of different loads being imparted to an outside mirror. For example, vehicle driving modes and door slams may apply different loads to the mirror. Sufficient mounting stiffness is required to avoid excessive movement or vibration of the outside mirror caused by the different loads. Heavy gage reinforcement panels may be required to augment the door structure to limit mirror vibration. In some cases, the overall thickness of one or more door panels must be increased to provide requisite mounting stiffness.
This disclosure is directed to solving the above problems and other problems as summarized below.